New Zealand Attack

Posting because I think it's important to say "this is NOT okay."

https://apnews.com/ce9e1d267af149dab40e3e5391254530

Nobody should be murdering people like this. It doesn't matter if they are Muslim, or Jewish, or Christian. Doesn't matter if they're brown, black, or white.

And although claims of incitement are tough to prove (people are not mindless, and do make their own choices on who to listen to, what to believe, and how to act on those beliefs) I hope those who say things that could be taken as encouragement for such behavior would take a long, hard look in a mirror and consider how to wield their influence for the better.

Rage Quitting

In the Leverage episode The Gold Job, the hacking expert took a turn leading the con by making a real life video game. 

Spoiler warning - his plan (though not the con as a whole) failed when the marks got frustrated and quit.  Rage quitting.

So a little while later, I found myself wondering how many of our shooters are basically rage quitting life.

Sort of a "I can't win, this isn't fun, screw everyone" sort of thing.  I wonder if there's any research on that.

Orlando

I resisted writing about Orlando here, because I try to reserve this space for things I don't think you can find elsewhere.  That is, I don't want to parrot what everyone else is saying...if you want to hear that, go read the news like I do.

My heart is with all those affected by this.  Of course.  Though I tend to show that more in Facebook than on my blog.

Yet I found myself writing, still, even though I have no answers to offer -

Because I am so sick of people being murdered like this.  It seems to be happening more and more often, more and more frequently.  And yet the political views are just more and more entrenched (and nothing will probably happen.)  Those who support gun control are all like "Now will you do something?!?" and those who oppose it are all like "Gun control isn't the answer" (though I haven't really heard an alternative, unless it's to make sure everyone is armed and end gun free zones.)  Add in a hefty does of "it's radical Islam that's the threat!" and "most of the mass shootings aren't done by Muslims!" and all you've got are people entrenching into their own point of views.

And, of course, showing sympathy for those affected.  (Though even there, there's a tinge of politicking...as you get so-called Christians who seem to rejoice in the murders.)

So what do I have to offer?  What new and novel idea can I come up with, that would prevent further tragedies like this from happening?

I got nothing.  Maybe, though I rather like the right to bear arms, maybe it's time to accept some changes.  As some articles have been pointing out, just because you carry a gun doesn't mean  you're prepared to take down a shooter.  Hell, I did weapons qualification in the Army every year...and I know exactly how rusty you can get when you only do it once a year.  I'm not sure I'd react correctly if I were involved in a situation like that today, so I think it's kind of silly to expect a mass of armed civilians to be capable of stopping something right away.  So does every bar, every movie theater, every school, every shopping mall and public park require an armed guard now?

I don't exactly like the idea of gun restrictions, but I'm so sick and tired of these mass murders.  So what are our options?  What else is out there?

What do the people who commit atrocities like this get out of doing it?  Why does anyone find it appealing in the first place?  Is it a failure of our society, our isolation at work?  The inability to see other people as human and deserving of life?  A desire to burn it all down and make everyone else suffer the way you think you are?

There's just something not right about this, and yet it keeps happening.  And the same old and tired arguments get trotted out each and every time, angrier and more frustrated each time.